If you are looking for ideas on how to teach alphabets to your preschoolers in a fun way, read on! There are a ton of enjoyable ways for parents and caregivers to incorporate early learning and ABC’s into everyday life. A little time spent on the alphabet in a consistent manner can work wonders, and YES it can be fun for all involved.
Watching your child grow and learn is really a fun experience in itself. It is both amazing and wonderous to behold as they expand their little minds, and learn more every single day.
All this learning before they even start kindergarten can give them a real jump start on early literacy!
There are so many awesome activities you can do at home with your kids to help them learn their ABCs. Books, apps, educational toys, and word games are just a few examples of fantastic tools for teaching letters to little ones. Below, we’ll go over 11 of the most effective, easiest, and best of all FUN ways to teach preschoolers at home to get them on their way to knowing their alphabets!
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11 Guaranteed Fun Ways To Teach Alphabets To Preschoolers
ABC Books
ABC picture books provide a terrific foundation for learning language. Books are simple, effective, and fun tools to teach preschoolers the alphabet. Not to mention, reading with your little ones is one of the best bonding experiences ever.
We have a hefty supply of books in our home (admittedly, I may have a bit of an addiction…) and we regularly go through our collection of kids’ books as our son outgrows them. At least once a year we donate a box or two of gently used books to Goodwill or pass them along to friends with younger kids.
If you don’t have the space or budget for a large book collection of your own, check out your local library for great free resources!
On a personal note, our ABC books really have stood the test of time. Our little guy especially loves books with flaps, sliders, or pop-ups. And talking with other parents convinces me that he’s not the only one.
One ABC book we really love is Lift-A-Flap Alphabet Book by Active Minds.
I stumbled across this one at a local bookshop and had to grab it. Or IT grabbed ME, as they say.
Kids LOVE lifting flaps on books, don’t they? And this super-sized, interactive board book has OVER 70 flaps to lift, peek under, and discover.
The alphabet features colorful photos to help your little one associate letters with words and pictures. Something about peeking underneath and discovering what is hiding is very stimulating for them. I get it, I like surprises too!
Just taking a little time each day to read with your child. 20 minutes here or there on a consistent basis will do wonders to help them learn their ABC’s. I’m a huge advocate for reading with kids from an early age because there are just so many benefits in doing so.
Not sure what your child’s reading level is? You can get a reading assessment and a ton of other awesome literacy resources for kids ages 2-12 with Reading IQ: Age of Learning. They offer the first month totally free so there’s nothing to lose!
A few more ABC books we really enjoy are:
Eating The Alphabet by Lois Ehlert
Oh, how we loved this book! Bright, lively watercolor art brings this book to life as it goes through the alphabet by way of fruits and vegetables.
It features both upper and lower case letters and lots of unique produce items from around the world. I recommend getting the board book version as they can handle a lot of wear and tear.
Dr. Suess’s ABC (Beginner Book, I Can Read It All By Myself)
An oldie but a goodie, you may remember reading this one yourself as a kid. It definitely brought back memories for me! Crazy funny rhyming words and imaginary creatures like the Zizzer-zazzer zuzz share the stage with the alphabet letters. It’s a classic.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s ABC by Eric Carle
If you’ve ever run across any of my other posts about kids’ books, well, you know that I am a real Eric Carle fan. His books are just delightful to read with your kids, simple and sweet with amazing colorful artwork.
This ABC book by Carle is great ages 2 and up and is filled with pictures of beloved animals from his other books. A fun way to discover the animal alphabet and the author!
I read somewhere that a copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar sells every 3o seconds somewhere in the world. That’s wild!
Reading Tips for Preschool Parents
Outer Space Books for Toddlers and Preschoolers
Fun and Sweet Books About Emotions for Little Kids
Great Read-Aloud Books For 2-3 Year Olds
Educational Videos/TV Programs
Sesame Street
Call me old school, but I believe that Sesame Street is still an excellent children’s program for learning ABC’s and so much more. It has stood the test of time when it comes to kids’ educational television programming with its lovable monsters and characters.
Super Why
Wyatt and his team of super readers held my son’s attention and helped him with all his letter recognition, sounds, and even spelling!
Cute 20-minute segments are just the right length too for short attention spans. In each episode, the team solves a “problem” that relates to a similar problem in a fairy tale, and then they “jump in the book” and find the solution through letters, words, spelling, and reading. You can find this adorable show on Netflix or YouTube.
Alphablocks
British-based Alphablocks is a wonderful television program.
Alphablocks is the hit CBeebies TV show that’s helped millions of children learn to read through adventures, songs and laughter. It’s a ton of fun with letters and words – all built on a firm foundation of key phonics skills. It is easily accessible on YouTube.
Educational Apps
Starfall
Starfall features English language arts and so much more. This app also has math, social-emotional development, and anti-bullying activities for K-3.
We absolutely loved Starfall and it can now be accessed anywhere, including on tablets and mobile devices. We also love ABCYA and RosiMosi.
For an extensive list of preschool and young learner apps please see the link at the bottom of this article.
Hands-On Learning ABC Toys
I can honestly say that this Elmo-on-the-Go Letters Suitcase is the very best ABC toy we invested in. Our son starting playing with it before he was even a year old and he still plays with it to this day (he’s 5).
At first, your baby can use it to start to become familiar with the alphabet letters, handling them, looking at them, and with your help, practicing the sounds they make and what they are called.
Later, as a preschooler, they can practice spelling simple words with them.
At the end of playtime, all the letters snap back into their place in the handy-sized suitcase so they won’t get scattered all over your house. Well, they sometimes do but am proud to say that even after 4 years, we still have them all A-Z. That’s actually a bit of a miracle!
Hands down, the Elmo letter suitcase is our favorite and you will get a lot of bang for your buck with this toy.
Also, it’s relatively inexpensive! (Yet another reason we really recommend it!)
Maybe you are a big fan of the Melissa and Doug Learning toys for toddlers and preschoolers? We definitely are! Their
